


Twelve Ways To Show Affection

by ChrysanthemumVow



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Hanami, Hate to Love, M/M, Valentine's Day, White Day, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-03-11 05:49:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13517856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrysanthemumVow/pseuds/ChrysanthemumVow
Summary: In every month Izaya is showing more of his affection for Shizuo.  It takes the blonde totally off guard and undecided what to do with them.





	1. Way One - January

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome everyone reading my brand new mini series of the blooming relationship between these two dorks :D  
> There will be a new chapter once in a month.  
> Enjoy~

**28th January**

He fidgeted with the key before finally finding the keyhole and by a push the entrance of his home opened by a creaking sound. Leaving his shoes and coat in the hall he made his way into the kitchen opening up the fridge. Grabbing the milk he was drinking it in one gulp finishing with a deep and satisfied sigh. There’s nothing better than a cold carton of milk at the end of a wearisome day. Shizuo crouched to check the contents of his fridge looking for a dinner. That’s when something white and creamy with a shining strawberry on top caught his attention. It was an extremely delicous-looking mini cake neatly placed on a paper tray. Shizuo scratched the back of his head. He couldn’t remember buying a cake. Yet the cake was there looking confidently back at him. He reached for it to take it out. It must be Kasuka’s present. He has a key to his home so it sounds like a legitimate reason how the cake found it’s way into his fridge. He made a note in his mind to call his brother to give his thanks. He sat down in front of the tv switching the device on and was eating the cake while watching a variety show. In all honesty the taste was heavenly. It must have been from a first grade confectionary shop. 

By the time he finished eating it, his mobile started to rang. 

”Kasuka.” he told upon checking the caller ID and answering.

”Happy Birthday, brother.” the stoic voice of the younger one addressed him.

”Thank you! How was your day?”

”I had another shooting, I just finished for the day. Is everything fine?”

”Yeah. I’m just a little tired. Anyway, thanks for the cake. It was really delicious.”

There was a long pause before Kasuka replied.

”What cake? I don’t know anything about it.”

Now it was Shizuo’s turn to stay silent for a moment. 

”What?!” he asked anger building up in him. 

His thoughts were chasing each other in his mind. If it was not Kasuka who placed the cake into his fridge, then who did it? Now that he was thinking about it why would Kasuka drop by with the cake when they will be holding his birthday party the next day at their parent’s house? He can only think of one person capable of breaking into his apartment and going unnoticed. 

”I’ll kill him!” he snarled with hatred. 

It didn’t leave too much for Kasuka’s imagination who his brother was speaking about. 

”Brother. Don’t do anything rush. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” he was patiently waiting for an answer.

Shizuo sighed to calm himself down, fruitlessly.

”Ok. See you tomorrow than.” he said before the line went dead.

 _The fucking flea broke into my home to poison me! He dared to do the deed at last!_

He was furious even though he didn’t have any proof that it was the information broker who left the cake for him. Moreover any evidence that the cake was poisoned. It didn’t have any suspicious aftertaste and he still didn’t feel funny in the stomach. 

Shizuo was pacing up and down from the sofa to the kitchen counter and back debating what to do. Should he hurry to the flea to strangle him? Or should he visit Shinra for a fast check-up first? 

The unexpected rang of the doorbell made him jump and he stormed down the way to the hall in annoyance. If it’s the flea he can kill him here and now and it will save him from the trouble of going to Shinjuku by himself.

He grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door which couldn’t withstand the force and now was off it’s hinges. At the treshhold there was a very confused Celty. One didn’t need to see her facial features as it was impossible in her case. Her dumbfoundedness was clearly shown by the droop of her shoulders.

”Sorry for that.” Shizuo apologized once he laid his eyes on his friend.

Celty waved her hand in front of her helmet dissmissively.

”Hello. Come on in.” he clumsily tried to make way for the Dullahan while trying to hold the door on it’s hinges at the same time. 

Celty let herself in and sat down on the sofa. 

[Happy Birthday, Shizuo.] She showed her greetings on the PDA to the blonde once he was back in the livingroom. 

”Thank you, Celty. It’s nice of you to drop by to greet me.” he smiled. The anger which was coursing through his veins just some minutes ago dissolved as his friend was there.

[I didn’t want to bother you after your work.] she typed and showed her message to him.

Shizuo shook his head.

”No problem. You’re always welcome.”

She fidgeted a bit before going on.

[In all honesty I really wouldn’t bother you today. I wanted to invite you over on Saturday so Shinra also can celebrate you.]

Shizuo nodded.

[So if you are free on Saturday, we are more than welcome to drink for your health.]

”Sure.” Shizuo nodded again. ”But you’re here nevertheless.”

Celty nodded and starting to type again a bit hesitantly.

[In fact I’m here on business. I was asked to deliver a present to you.]

”A present?” he asked surprised.

It can’t be from Kasuka. That’s for sure. _Don’t tell me…_

”Whom is it from?” he asked convinced that he wouldn’t like the answer.

[From Izaya.]

Shizuo pulled his fingers into a fist so tight his knuckles started to turn white. A vein markedly popping on his temple. Celty hurried to type something on her device obviously trying to calm him down before he could go berserk in his own apartment. 

[I was also surprized and I seriously thinking it would be a kind of tease on his side.]

She pulled a little present box out from her sleeves. How it could fit there was a mystery. She handed it to Shizuo who was snatching it away from her angrily. Celty knew very well that the target of his anger was not her.

[Do you mind if I’ll be here when you check the contents? It could be a bomb or something.] 

She seemed concerned and in all honesty Shizuo was also thinking the same. The damn louse has been making his life miserable for ages. Maybe he grew tired of it and decided to end the game for good. 

He nodded before undoing the ribbon on the top of the box. He opened it up wearily, but what was inside was something totally unexpected. Celty was in his toe also looking down into the box, both of them scrutinizing the expensive looking quality watch. They excanged looks.

[Do you think the bomb is inside?]

”Dunno…” Shizuo shrugged his shoulders. 

He was confused. Why did the flea send him an expensive watch? Why did he send him anything in the first place? 

[May I…?]

She holded out her shadows and Shizuo nodded again. Celty took the watch from him and it looked like she somehow checked the device from inside out looking for any suspicious chip or the likes. But she couldn’t find anything. She gave the present back to him.

[It seems like a normal watch to me.] she informed him.

Shizuo placed it down onto the coffee table and sat down onto the sofa. He placed his elbows on his knees and dipped his head down, fingers diving into his hair. 

”Okay. So what should I do?” he asked. 

Celty sat down next to him. He glanced up to her.

”I mean I can just kill him, but it would be odd to do so. He… sent me a present. Although I don’t have a clue why.”

[I was also surprized when he asked me to deliver a birthday present to you.]

[Ummm, you can always thank him, I guess.]

The consternation was evident on the blonde’s face.

”I won’t fucking thank him anything!”

[Or you can just do as nothing happened.]

It made him wonder. Izaya is always keen on watching the reaction of people he is toying with. Nothing would be more unnerving to him than no reaction to his prank. 

”That may be a good idea. Thanks, Celty.”

[No problem.]

She stood up from her place.

[Sorry, but Shinra is waiting for me. I should go now.]

”Okay” 

He was seeing her out.

”Then see you on Saturday.”

[See you.]

He closed the door and were walking back into the living room. Sat down again to resume watching the tv but he was unable to tore his thoughts away from the flea. Why did he buy him a present? An expensive one at that? And broke into his apartment to place a cake into his fridge? Why didn’t he leave the box there too? Why asking Celty to deliver it?

He became more and more confused and simultaneously more and more frustrated as confusion made him feeling uncomfortable. The shitty flea wanted to unnerve him this time! This must be a new tactic of his! Buying him presents, behaving like a friend or something. Just to throw him off balance. 

It felt like more exasperating than mocking him or cutting into him with a sharp blade. Because he couldn’t do anything with it. The flea was not here this time to throw a vending machine at him. More importantly he didn’t do anything harmful so he wouldn’t have deserved any heavy projectile aiming for his head. And this whole situation made him feel helpless. He didn’t like the feeling at all. 

After a short rumination he sprung up from his place decided that he should do something with this unnerving situation. So he grabbed the watch and stuffed it into his pocket then pulling his shoes and coat on, he left in a hurry.

******************************

Izaya was sitting on his coach reading a book. From time to time he had to stop as his thoughts had the tendency to wander off from the reading. _Shizu-chan should have received my present by now. His protozoan brain must have a problem processing the situation._

He smirked to himself. He should have been waiting for him in his apartment just to be able to witness the blonde’s reaction when he realized that he got something from him. His expression must have been priceless. 

He was expecting a call from the blonde telling him to fuck off. Or at least a text message. But his phone has been silent for a long time. But he could wait. 

He didn’t have to wait long as after a good half an hour he heard a knocking on his door. Or you can say a loud banging instead. There’s only one individual in Tokyo who had the tendency to do it.

He took his time padding to his door, opening it slowly. He was peeking out through the gap with an innocent look on his face as he didn’t expect anyone to visit.

”If it isn’t Shizu-chan! What brought you here today?” 

He asked with a smirk on his face and voice slightly surprized.

Shizuo took the liberty to push the door into his face and he had to keep out of his way as the blonde let himself in marching into the apartment angrily.

”What’s the meaning of this?!” the blonde asked scooping the watch out of his pocket.

”A present?” 

Shizuo felt his adrenaline skyrocketing just seeing the smirk on the asshole’s face.

”What for?!” he demanded stomping a hole into the floor.

”Hmmm, let’s see? For your birthday maybe? I always knew that there’s a limit to your brain capacity but it honestly took me unprepared that you couldn’t figure out this much. But I forgot the fact that monsters does not celebrate birthdays.”

There was a mocking undertone in what he said and it was enought to make Shizuo lose his temper. He lunged forward to grab the raven, but Izaya was faster and dashed into his livingroom. Shizuo could only manage to catch him at the back of the sofa. He yanked him and turned him around so they were face to face. 

”Don’t fucking insult me you shithead! You’ve never bought me a present, why now?! What for?!”

”You don’t like it?”

”You’d better answer me!” 

Shizuo narrowed his eyes while still holding him in his clutches. Izaya was staring back at him with challenging eyes and a smug face. 

”You have an ulterior motive, haven’t you?”

Asked the blonde with a disgusted frown on his face.

”It’s because we are knowing each other for ten long years. An early 10th anniversary gift you could say. No ulterior motive this time.” 

His last comment was a lie of course. Both of them knew it. 

Shizuo let him free undecided what to do. But before he had the time to think about it, Izaya leaned forward and plastered his lips onto his own. 

It caught him off guard. He went stiff for a long moment, still as a statue then he pushed the raven roughly aside. Izaya hitted his back to the sofa and losing balance collapsed to the floor. It didn’t hurt, but it was unexpected and he didn’t have enough space to avoid the collision. Shizuo didn’t wait for him to collect himself. He raised his hand into the air and threw the watch into Izaya’s lap fervently. 

”Keep it, flea. I don’t need your shitty present. And don’t ever dare to break into my home.” he said before turning around and leaving the apartment. The door shut into place with a loud bang. 

Izaya looked down onto his lap, the watch still there neglected. An unwelcomed feeling was coiling up in his chest. It was the all so familiar feeling of being refused, being pushed away. He hated this feeling. And he hated Shizuo for making him feel this way. 

He stood up grabbing the watch and was walking into the kitchen. When he got there he was eyeing the trash can for a long time contemplating whether to throw the expensive thing into it. Should he throw it into the unburnable? 

With a sudden surge of emotions he decided otherwise and with all his might he threw the watch into the far end of the kitchen. He was panting hard from rage.

******************************

The next day Shizuo arrived home earlier. It was still bright in his apartment so he didn’t need to switch the light on. He sauntered into his livingroom and was reaching for the remote control when he cought a glimpse of a fancy looking box placed neatly onto the coffee table. There was no doubt who left it there. 

”The fucking flea! I told him not to come here anymore!”

He grabbed the box and opened it. He found the exact same watch inside. When he took the box from the table a piece of paper was drifting from under it. He brought it up. There was a note on it written in beautiful characters.

_Just keep it. I don’t need it anyway._

He snorted before taking the watch out from the box and examining it for the first time. It was an elegant Seiko watch from stainless steel and hardlex glass. Designed to be durable, anyone can tell just by looking at it. A perfect choice for someone with a monstrous strenght as his. It also suited to his bartender clothes. 

It was still a mystery why the flea decided to buy something so classy as this to give him as a present, but anyway his financial status would have never let him to buy something as expensive as this. And he liked the watch so with a deep sigh he applied it to his wrist.


	2. Way Two - February

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fic for Valentine's Day! No sex yet, sorry guys :D 
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments so far! ❤ You made me very happy ^^
> 
> I was wondering whether I should publish this chain of stories in oneshots and am still undecided if it was a good idea to make it into multi-chaptered rather than into a collection of oneshots in a series. As there are gaps between chapters, but I guess it's essential to read the whole thing to get the whole picture. So I guess I will leave it like that. That's why it will have sooo~ many different tags.

**13th February**

Days were passing by as they always did, unchanged in Ikebukuro. Shizuo was walking around with his boss, Tom and his kouhai, Vorona collecting debts and in his spare time or any other time when he caught a glimpse of a certain information broker with a singy-songy yell of 'I-za-ya-kuuun~' he was engaged in his usual chase of the other. From time to time the flea was back in Ikebukuro willfully and always made sure to cross the blonde debt collector's way. And Shizuo, as always, tore the first signpost near at hand or picked an innocent trash bin or vending machine up so he could throw it to his opponent. It was all the same, but somehow a bit different as recently Shizuo was trying actually not to hit the other with any of the aforementioned projectiles. Aiming carefully but at the same time hatefully enough so it wouldn't be conspicouos. After all he accepted the expensive as hell watch from the flea and due to it he felt like the least he should do is to not kill Izaya for a while if he doesn't have to. This time too he was targeting the raven with a vending machine held high above his head, but the raven evaded the flying obstacle gracefully before turning around and running away shouting back over his shoulders with a wide grin.

"Come on, Shizu-chan! Catch me if you can!"

Although the blonde was not in the mood for all of this. He had a tiresome day with all the shitty punks refusing to pay and he did not feel enough spirit in himself to chase the flea. And Tom was terribly grateful for it.

"There won't be any nice lady giving you chocolate for Valentine's Day if you're scaring them away with your temper." his boss commented with a sigh.

"There's noone willing to do so anyway." the blonde replied.

"Vorona, will you be giving away chocolate tomorrow?" Tom turned to their companion asking.

"Negative. This custom is uncomprehendable as it does not hold any practical meaning to it."

Tom raised his brows. "You can show the other party that you're interested in him with that. Isn't it a practical meaning?"

"Interested in what way?"

"Romantically?"

"Romantic is unpractical. It is not a vital element in reproduction."

Tom realized that he and his Russian employee are not on the same wavelength so he just gave it up. Shizuo was just listening to their conversation quietly, thinking about how it would feel like to have a romantic relationship with someone. It would be nice, right? To have someone who is interested in him enough to care and go out her way to make him chocolate. It was one of his secret wishes that he would one day receive a handmade chocolate from someone for Valentine's Day. But it seemed to be remaining a dream unless he was learning to grab a hold on his temper. Or else noone would be interested in him.

******************************

Izaya looked behind only after a few street of sprint and was disappointed to realize that Shizuo did not follow him. Could he be held up by that blonde Russian woman? Izaya hated Vorona for Shizuo looked like less of a monster when she was by his side. Just like the beast wanted to control his anger nowadays. It seemed the blonde didn't do his best to hit him too. And now he doesn't even chase him anymore. Izaya was thinking about it would have been better to cut a nice pattern into the damn woman's chest so his Shizu-chan would have been furious enough to go after him. To only see him again. So they would be having their usual rutine of cat and mouse. So the nucleus of Shizuo's world would be him again. He felt neglected. He strolled back to Shinjuku listlessly. He wanted to do something. Had to do something to bring Shizuo's attention back to him. To make himself his focal point again.

The magnificant idea popped up in his mind when he arrived home. Right after he entered the front door of his own apartment an oddly sweet fragrant filled his nose. It wasn't unusual for Namie to cook something for him, but this fragrant was definitely different from anything she made before. When he stepped into the kitchen the scene which welcomed him was also something out of ordinary. On the counter there were all kind of bowls and utensils including bonbon forms. Izaya was sure that he had never bought something like a silicone bonbon maker to himself. He doesn't even like chocolate. Namie was in the middle of taking samples from a tray full of chocolates.

"What are you doing, Namie-san? I can’t remember allowing you to make a mess of my kitchen."

His secretary raised her head before replying to him uninterested.

"Your kitchen is bigger than mine. And I didn’t want to make a mess in my own kitchen."

Izaya frowned then walked up to the counter to check the mess. He glanced onto an open-up book laying on the edge.

 _Homemade Chocolate for Valentine's Day_ it said.

"Are you making chocolate for a whole army? I thought you are only interested in Seiji-kun." he asked with a mocking voice and a smirk on his face.

"I am. I had several prototypes. I can only give Seiji the best ones. So he would be delighted that he has such a good chef as a sister as me. And after tasting the chocolates I made, he can taste me too~"

Izaya shot her a repulsed look. Although Namie seemed to be untouched by it. She made her way into the living room to collect her belongings and to fetch the food boxes she brought with her. Meanwhile Izaya was struck by an idea. He scooped his phone out of his jacket pocket and was sneakyly shooting a photo of the recipe. He checked the picture he took and he was a bit unsatisfied that it came out blurry. He snapped another one but he hadn't time to check this time as Namie was already back. He pretended to just happened to be standing there and was deeply engaged in checking his mails. Namie didn't care about him thankfully. She put the chocolates into the box and snatched her recipe book than turned to leave.

"Didn't you forget about something?" Izaya asked him looking around the mess suggestively. He received a shrug in response.

"My working hours are already over."

"It was already over by the time you were making the chocolates." he commented pointedly.

"Too bad I have to leave now. See you tomorrow."

Then she left him there in the middle of the mess she made. Izaya shook his head. He hated it when his apartment wasn't perferctly tidy. He started to clean up than was checking the recipe. He had to go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. He wanted to make the pralines super sweet filled with strawberry cream. Although he was thinking about health matters too so he wanted to make it with coconut oil and from fresh strawberries. It was not an easy thing to surprise Shizu-chan in a good way and he was up for the challenge.

******************************

**14th February**

He was thinking the whole situation through and through in his mind. He was thinking about each possibilities to find the optimal one to give the present to the blonde. He decided that it would be best to sneak into Shizuo's apartment again and leave the box of chocolates there. If he was looking for an opportunity to meet him on the street, Shizuo would probably start throwing heavy things at him again and it wouldn't be a simple task to give him the chocolates. For a moment he mulled that he might try to talk to the other, but he quickly rejected the idea. He hardly thought that Shizuo would to talk to him, especially not where others would see them. So the only logical solution was to leave the chocolate in the blonde's home. Just like he did with the previous gifts.

The bright smile which adorned his face pulled even wider when he halted in front of the door of the blonde's apartment. He pulled his lock pick tools out of his pocket and bending he started to work with the lock. After a few turn in it a quiet click could be heard which informed him about his success. The door of the blonde's apartment opened up for him. He entered into the small hall and closed the door behind himself. Just as he surmised there was silence inside. Usually around this time of the day Shizuo is still at work, so he was sure to come when the chance to run into the blonde was less than zero. Not caring the least about common decencies he walked into the livingroom with his shoes still on. He stopped in front of the coffee table when the sound of soft pad reached his ears. Looking up his eyes met with the surprised warm brown ones of Shizuo.

Shizuo was in his bedroom when he heard the front door closing which considering the fact that he locked the door was more than odd. And when he sauntered out of his room he found himself face to face with the not less surprised flea. He was watching silently as the usual smirk faltered on the flea's face changing into dumbfoundedness and then turning into a displeased frown.

"Shizu-chan! What a surprise! You should be at work at this hour. Are you slacking off?" Izaya asked in eager attempt to save face.

The blonde's features clouded from anger as he responded in an impetuous tone.

"I aksed for a holiday for today. Yet I assume I fucking told you to never set foot in here again, I-za-ya-kun~"

The raven was just about to make a smart response, but before he could speak up, a very enthusiastic Pomeranian puppy scudded out from the adjacent room and greeted the newcomer yowling and with a cheerful bark. The witty comeback stuck in Izaya as he opened his eyes wide assessing the scene of the dog sprinting his direction. All the colours drained from his features. When the doggy reached him it propped itself up his calves with which Izaya decided to flee. Unfortunately the one and only entrance to the apartment was thwarted by the terrifying dog so he had to choose another escape route. In his feverish mind the only certain destination seemed to be the kitchen counter. With a gorgeous parkour move he swung onto it and clutched the handle of the kitchen cabinet while trying to stave off the dog at the base of the counter with a nervous look.

"Get the dog the hell out of here! Shizu-chan!"

It sounded more desperate than commanding. Shizuo was watching the whole thing with speechless astonishment. He would never have thought that Izaya was afraid of anything not to mention a tiny and friendly dog as this. The sight of the flea holding onto dear life on the top of his kitchen counter filled him with a pleasant feeling. He decided that it's high time to make the other suffer for once for all he had done to him. What goes around comes around. Isn't it?

"Hmmm? What did you say? I couldn't hear you clearly." he said and with a lazy movement he scooped a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and pulling one out lit it. Izaya couldn't believe his own eyes. 

"Don't make me repeat myself! Anyway, how come you have a dog?"

"Not mine. The old lady in the neighbourhood asked me to keep an eye on him while she's away from home."

"And... when will she come back for it?"

"Who knows...?

"Lock it up in your bedroom."

Shizuo took a drag before answering. This time he had a smirk which can even put Izaya to shame found it's way to his features.

"I'm not in the mood for it." he said and Izaya felt for the first time in his life how is it feeling to be on the receiving end of that smug smile.

"Don't do that, Shizu-chan!"

Shizuo walked up to the sofa and sat down not breaking eye contact with Izaya.

"I would have never guessed that the megalomaniac flea is afraid of dogs. That's unheard of. I thought every flea loves dogs. After all it's a flea thing."

Izaya pursed his lips in anger. 

"Fuck you!" he spitted.

Shizuo chuckled lightly fully enjoying the situation. He couldn’t remember any moments in his life breathing the same air as the flea and not feeling any anger. 

"Speaking dirty? I don’t mind. Just tell me why are you here despite you were told to not set a foot inside my apartment. No. I have always been telling you to stay away from Ikebukuro."

Izaya slid his angry gaze onto the dog swagging it's tail at the base of the counter. He quickly reviewed his possibilities. Shizuo did not seem furious which in turn angered him on no end. On the other hand it means he was up for a deal. If there would be no other way, as humiliating as it is, it's still more dignified to make a deal with him than being on his hunkers on the counter for who knows how long. And being under the sassy eyes of the blonde all along.

"Okay. I will be staying out of Ikebukuro for a week. Just shut this hound into your room, dammit, you dimwit monster!"

Shizuo didn't take the insult, instead he chuckled again.

"Only for a week? Does not sound a good offer to me. What about a lifetime?"

"Are you pushing the limits? Unfortunately I can’t promise that. Russia Sushi is located in Ikebukuro. What about one and a half week?"

"Let’s make it a month then. And I’m being generous here, flea."

Both of them knew anyway that Izaya can't stand to be away even for a month, but Shizuo was in a good mood.

"Agreed." the raven spitted between clenched teeth.

Shizuo stubbed his cigarette lazily before getting up from the sofa and calling the dog into his bedroom.

"Tarou-kun, come here."

Once the dog sprinted into the room, he closed the door behind it and was sauntering up to the counter. Izaya's distrustful eyes followed the animal and only after the dog was beyond the closed door he drooped his shoulders relieved. He did his best to come down from the counter with decorum. When he was standing on his own two feet safely on the floorboard again and he was face to face with the grinning blonde, he stucked his left hand into the pocket of his coat. Shizuo immediately took a defensive position, fearing that Izaya would pull out his knife. His smile disappeared and he was suspiciously watching the other. When Izaya pulled his hand back out, he threw the object he drawn from the pocket with great impetus towards Shizuo. Shizuo immediately jumped sideways to evade the attack, so the small decorative box dropped off the wall with an innocuous blow. Then Shizuo came to see that there was no knife in Izaya's hand at all.

"Go die, Shizu-chan!" the raven yelled before turning around and flouncing out of the apartment.

Shizuo was only watching him leaving with mouth agape. Thankfully he already stubbed his cigarette previously otherwise it would have been falling out of his mouth now. He turned around to pick up the box which the raven wanted to threw at him. It was a nice carton box for presents, safely closed by a red ribbon. In the box there was a selection of neatly prepared handmade chocholate praline partially smashed by the impact. Recognition suddenly struck him, unexpectedly and with great impact. There was no doubt about that Izaya came to leave this box in his home while he was away. A Valentine's Day package made with great care. His first Valentine's Day chocolate from a most unexpected person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading~ I hope you liked it :) Comments again highly appreciated :)  
> See you in March~


	3. Way Three - March

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again~ I'm really sorry for taking so long to update :( It was a nice idea to publish a new chapter once a month, but long story short, I didn't have the time to do so. And now I'm a few months and chapters late. Anyway, it's summer time now, so I will be coming back with new chapters more frequently until September and after that we will see how can I manage :)  
> Sooo, have a pleasent time reading~

**12th March**

It has been peaceful in Ikebukuro. No uprooted streetsigns, no flying trash bins or vending machines, and no sight of a certain information broker. Although the blonde debt-collector was enjoying this peace to his heart’s content, at the same time he was a bit unsatisfied. He honestly thought that Izaya wouldn’t be able to sit on his ass and would come to Ikebukuro to stir up trouble, yet he hasn’t seen him for a while. Just like the flea was true to the deal which was quite unlike of him. And it left Shizuo wonder. His thoughts turned back to his conversation with Celty. They were sitting in a park a few days after Valentine’s Day and Celty asked him if he has any troubles. Surely his friend knew him better than anyone else. She was able to guess that something was off by the sagging of his shoulders and his pensive expression only. 

_"That’s… nothing…" he started but Celty was waiting patiently for him to continue. He scratched his head and went on. "Well, it’s about Izaya."_

_The Headless Rider tensed at the mention of the informant before starting to type franticly on her PDA and showing it to her friend._

_[What did he do this time?]_

_Shizuo waved his hand and he took a drag on his cigarette._

_"Nothing bad. That’s what irks me out the most."_

_"He… he gave me handmade chocolates for Valentine’s Day…"_

_Celty inhaled, or at least it seemed like that from the sudden movement of her chest heaving._

_[For real?!]_

_She was flabbergasted. She started to type again, erasing back and re-typing as she seemed to be unsure what to write._

_[It…]_

_[Do you think…]_

_[That means something?]_

_She shook her helmet then typing again._

_[No. It would be unlike him. It must be a part of his schemes.]_

_"Not sure… But I was thinkin’ bout the same." The blonde admitted. "Why else would he be givin me presents?"_

_His jaw was so clenched he seemed to be deep in thoughts. Celty was waiting for him to continue. At last he sighed before going on._

_"But it made me thinkin’ about things..."_

_"I mean he bought me a present for my birthday and was really hellbent about me accepting it. An awfully expensive present at that."_

_"Why was that?"_

_"Well, he was the same shitty flea afterwards but at least he hasn’t been sending any gangs after me since."_

_"And now… this…"_

_Celty touched the chin of her helmet in thought._

_"I guess I was a bit cruel to him when he came to leave the chocolates in my apartment and he seemed to be… I don’t know…"_

_He growled and was fumbling in his pocket to lit a cigarette._

_[You seem to be troubled. But don’t let Izaya’s newest prank get to you!]_

_The Dullahan was trying her best to console her friend._

_"Thanks Celty…" Shizuo smiled. "But you know, the strange thing is, I was a bit happy receiving the chocolate."_

_She staightened her back in disbilief, but soon her posture eased._

_[I’m glad you were happy, I just don’t want you to regret anything later on.]_

_[For now the only thing you can do is accepting it I guess.]_

_[Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t like Izaya the least.]_

_[I’m not sure what he’s thinking, I guess noone knows that, but maybe… maybe... if there’s a possibility he wants to reconcile, I think you should give him a chance.]_

_[And hopefully Ikebukuro will be more peaceful.]_

_It striked a string in the blonde’s heart._

_[But on the other hand, you should also consider, that only those are giving chocolate’s for Valentine’s Day, whom are interested in the other romantically. So that’s why I’m thinking it a prank.]_

And it was what caused him the greatest headache. He was genuinely happy to recieve a chocolate, a sign of affection, even from the flea bastard… but to be honest, he has never been thinking about the flea in a romantic way and he was sure like hell, he wouldn’t be doing so ever. They have been hating each other for so long. 

Celty must be right and it’s just a prank on the flea’s side. He must be playing the nice guy only to trap Shizuo and make his life more miserable. He would be showing his real colors soon enough. But something seemed to be off nonetheless.

As Izaya was away for weeks now, he had plenty of time thinking about him. Really thinking about him. Why did he always rile him up? Why couldn’t he leave him alone? Was it because he decided to hate him ever since he first laid his eyes on him? Was it because he couldn’t accept that Shizuo didn’t even give him a chance? Are chances really that important? Was the flea really want to be friends with him just didn’t know how to convey that? Or… was he interested in Shizuo in a different way?

He shook his head in denial. _No, that can’t be._ Izaya would never be interested in anyone that way… It would mean he likes men. And he has never done anything to indicate he is interested in him specifically.

What Shizuo knew is that he wanted to be in a romantic relationship with someone, but the little pest always… always prevented him from anything the like to happen.

 _That’s right!_ The realization struck him like a train. The flea didn’t want him to have a relationship with anyone so he destroyed his chances. The shitty louse! He didn’t initiate anything just made sure, noone else has the chance with him. He was a big fat coward unable to show his interest in Shizuo, instead he cared about noone would be too deeply involved in him.

Shizuo was incredibly proud of himself for figuring Izaya out. His blood was boiling and he was craving for some kind of revenge. He was still thinking he didn’t want anything from the other man in that regard, but he found it a great opportunity to have his turn at last. His turn in tormenting the other. 

He just has to let Izaya think that he is accepting his approach and when the opportunity arises, he can crush his hopes. That way he can has the upper hand in the situation. And if it’s a trap, Izaya will be thinking that he caught the bait, but in reality he didn’t. What a masterplan! 

Shizuo felt himself being smarter than ever. Maybe he can beat the flea in a non-physical way for once! He has absolutely nothing to lose! 

A satisfied smirk streched out on the blonde’s face. Slightly devilish even. 

They will be playing a couple if that’s what the louse want. He haven’t been in any kind of relationship yet, so it can also be turn out fun. 

Although he always had been thinking about having a girlfriend, he realized, that he didn’t care if his partner would be a she or a he. He hardly believed the flea would be the perfect boyfriend material though. Not like he really wants this relationship. Anyway it would be interesting as hell to get to know the real Izaya without all those false smirks and taunting. Who knows it can even turn out well. Less fights with the flea, less property damage, less debt. Maybe he can also buy his very own house! And maybe he can also find peace and happiness. 

No, wait! Only until he tells Izaya that he is just messing with him with the very same smirk the flea always presenting to him. 

But first things first he wanted to take a small revenge on the damn flea for all he did. So he decided that he will be making his own handmade chocolate for the pest. A really spicy and really bitter black chocolate with chilly inside one. That way he can communicate his willingness to the other without words and at the same time he can laugh on the suffering of the flea when he would be taking a bite of a supposedly tasteful chocolate only to disappoint in it greatly.

And of course by giving the flea a White Day chocolate he would be able to compensate for the gifts he received. Because he also didn’t want to be a debtor to the flea. The only problem was that the flea was out of Ikebukuro ever since that ’dog incident’. His lips pulled into an amused smile at the memory. It even occured to him that he should give a puppy to the flea, but pets were extremely expensive and he didn’t want to ruin his own mission by a sulking and vengeful louse.

He decided to play along with Izaya, but this time he wanted to play the game according to his own rules.

**14th March**

On White Day Shizuo was on a day off. He made the spicy-bitter chocolate according to the plans and although he was afraid that things would go awry, he decided that he will be giving it to the flea in person. Izaya still hasn’t shown up in Ikebukuro, so a bit unwillingly but he decided to set out for Shinjuku himself. He was so keen on to see the result with his own eyes he really hoped the flea didn’t let himself killed yet. 

When he arrived to the right apartment he nearly broke through the door due to the rutine he had every time, even if it was only a few times, when he ’visited’ the flea himself. Instead now he was standing tall in front of the door and was eyeing the doorbell for a few minutes before making up his mind and pushing it with his index finger the gentlest he could. It was unfamiliarly civilized and felt more than odd. But he didn’t have the time to wonder about it as he heared an ’I’ll be there witihin a minute!’ as an answer from the other side. Then the lock clicked and the raven was standing there in the gap of the door. There was pure surprise written all over his face before his smirking mask was back in place.

"My, my, if it isn’t my favourite beast! For what do I owe the pleasure? Don’t tell me you were missing me and being here only for my pleasent company? I’m very sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have time for monsters."

And with that he was starting to shut the door in the blonde’s face. No going for him with a mad smirk on his lips and flick blade in hand. Which stunned Shizuo and he nearly react a minute too late, but he was successfully positioning his foot in the gap hindering the door to shut into place.

"Don’t you dare shut the damn door into my face you louse!" he growled "I was kind enought to come here. Now revel in my goodwill."

"It has never been a good sign before to appear at my front door, Shizu-chan. I hardly believe your generous deed for coming here is out of goodwill today." Izaya answered still with the smirk attached to his face. If he was surprised he didn’t let it slip this time.

Shizuo eyed him for a moment through the gap thinking about how he wants to bash that smug face in, but managed to held himself back. He is not here to kill the flea today, he reminded himself.

"Then feel honoured. Cause I’m here to give you something." 

"Ohh, sounds interesting. You are quite considerate that you are warning me before giving me a hit in the face." 

"Fuck you! I’m trying to give you this present, you shithead!" Shizuo grumbled at last losing his patience and pushing the gift box into the raven’s face.

Izaya was pulling away from the door with a frown of disgust written on his face upon the harsh intrusion and was grabbing the box and pushing Shizuo’s hand away. The smirk was washed away from his face and he was eyeing the present for a few moments unblinking.

It was a nice small carton box. Not so neatly prepared as the ribbon wrapped around it seemed to be strained a bit screaming of the clumsy attempt to fix it in place. Telling tales of it was self packed. And as it was White Day today, it did not leave much to his imagination what supposed to be inside.

He warned himself that irrespectively from the packinging that can be anything. But he doubted that Shizuo is smart enough to put anything life threatening in it. So he slowly started to unwrap the ribbon and opened the box to peek inside. 

A few amorph bon-bon like thing were peeking back at him. Not the beautiest ones he had ever seen. If he could say something about them at first sight then it would be that the chocolates lacked any artistic qualities.

"Is it… handmade?" he asked quirking an eyebrow. He was so stunned he forgot to think about that is that thing edible at all. Which was questionable by the looks of it.

"Can’t you see it yourself, dammit?!" 

Izaya glanced up into the blonde’s irritated face with a blank expression, then he opened up his door and pulled to the side to make way for Shizuo.

"Thank you." he managed "You can come in."

Shizuo was hesitating for the nick of a time. Entering the flea’s apartment wasn’t part of his plan. Yet he was more than eager to see the louse’s face when he tried the chocolate so he conceded and set foot into the hall. 

Izaya closed the door behind him and turning around he sauntered into the kitchen.

"Leave your shoes in the hall, will you? Take a seat, I’ll be back in a minute."

Now Shizuo was feeling entirely awkward. This whole situation was so out of place he wanted to hit himself only to check if he was dreaming. Anyway he complied and after getting rid of his shoes, which he never did before in this exact apartment, he made his way to the livingroom and sat down into an armchair. 

The flea was back by the time with a tray in hand. There was a cup with tea on it next to a glass filled with something pink and creamy. Izaya sat down onto the coach grabbing the cup, so it was clear that the glass was for Shizuo. 

The blonde took a hold of it and was eyeing it having reservations about the content, but upon sniffing it, he realized that there’s strawberry milkshake in it. He gulped it down happily.

"I didn’t know you like milkshakes." he commented.

Izaya was still checking the chocolates and didn’t even glance up.

"I’m not. It’s for you."

"For me? How did you know I’ll be coming here today?" He felt slightly irritated at that. The damn pest knew he would be coming!

"I didn’t. I always have one ready." The raven answered looking up at him with an uncharacteristicly gentle smile. 

"What??"

The smile turned misterious, then the raven was averting his gaze back to the box and was checking the small card attached to it.

_’Happy White Day, Flea! I hope you won’t like it!’_

His lips curled into an amused smile.

He took out one of the chocolates and placed it into his mouth. The taste was unrivaled. It made from the richest black chocolate preserved in it’s untouched bitterness blended with something spicy enought to render his tongue into a tingling mass. Chilly, he realized.

He moaned from pleasure when the sensation hit his nerves. He must have acknowledged that he loved the chocolate. He was thinking about hurrying into the kitchen to make a strong coffee as a chaser to enhance the delight. He was overly blissful that Shizuo gave him a present in return to his Valentine Day’s one. Not to mention a present this tasty as this one!

The blonde was checking his facial expressions all along with a troubled frown on his face. Contrary to his expectations Izaya really seemed like someone enjoying the treat. At last he was grinning at the blonde.

"Thanks Shizu-chan for the present! I love it! It’s delicious!"

The blonde was speechless for a moment before gathering himself and grumbling.

"Tsk. I thought it will burn your mouth and you won’t be able to speak again."

"Haha, that’s nice of you~" 

Seeing that his plan fell about his ears, Shizuo decided that it’s best for now to go home and think up a new one to have his ultimate revenge on the flea. He was out of idea at the moment and he didn’t know what to do now. He couldn’t kill the informant as he didn’t do anything wrong this time around, not that he knew about it. He has been staying out of his sight and Ikebukuro. So the blonde was not infuriated enough to kill him at the time. It was something new and thinking about a revenge devoid of physical violance was giving his heart a comfortable sensation. 

"Thanks for the milkshake, I guess. I have to go now. See you… I mean don’t come to Ikebukuro!"

The informant was way too amused at that.

"Hahaha. Shizu-chan, see you soon~"

"Don’t you dare!" Shizuo growled while putting on his shoes.

Izaya went up to him and halted in front of the door. He was looking up at Shizuo with unfathomable eyes. 

"What now?"

He shook his head smiling before opening up the door for the blonde.

"It’s nothing. You are still a protozoan."

"Hah, and you’re still a flea." 

With that Shizuo left grumbling to himself. Izaya was just shaking his head with an amused smile stretching on his lips. Well, he can wait, can’t he?


	4. Way Four – April

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me some time to write XD I had some versions but I decided upon cinnamonroll Izaya and confused, but kind Shizuo :)  
> Anyway enjoy~

**5th April**

He was leaning onto the railing at the station with the usual satisfied smirk on his face watching the people go by. The crowd was constantly pouring out of Exit no. 2 of Kudanshita Station on the Toei Shinjuku and Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line. At the moment it was possible there were more people there than at Ikebukuro Station as Kudanshita was right at the gate of the Kitanomaru Park, one of the main spots for Hanami, the annual Cherry Blossom Viewing in Tokyo. So it was natural that tons of people would be coming there to spend some time under the blossoming trees. Although the famous informant was there for something else. Well he was there for the same reason partially but he was more interested in something else. He was scanning the crowd eagerly to spot a mop of blonde hair, but the person he was waiting for did not appear. So he got bored starting to chat with a bunch of girls flocking around him when he entertained them with some tasty news of the neighbourhood. When the girls were about to say hi to him, he asked for a photo with all of them. They were giggling but accepted. Soon afterward he sent the photo to the blonde with a message saying "Shizu-chan you are so late that I am thinking about giving up on you and having fun with the girls."

Immediately his phone went off with a reply.

"I’ll bash your face in if you’re lettin’ me down! Just wait where you are! Be there soon"

Izaya’s lips curled around an amused smile. Shizu-chan was honestly so much fun! Even though they suspended their trying to kill the other. They were still having their chases as usual only that the killing intent was missing. He felt that and he didn’t know how to feel. Shizuo was chasing him around even after White Day, but when he let him catch up to him, the blonde seemed to be kind of lost what to do. He was just standing there in front of him panting from the exhaustion and assessing him with an odd look. Then Izaya offered him to have a cold drink with him so they can catch their breath and Shizuo conceded with a nod. Then they were sitting inside a coffee shop, Shizuo drinking his milkshake and Izaya drinking his ice coffee. He tried his best not to mock the blonde too much as at last they had a moment between them actually having some light conversation. And he liked it much. He wanted to gain Shizuo’s attention in a different way than before.

Since then they had been exchanging text messages, althoug the blonde turned mean every time he offered to meet up in Ikebukuro. Their messages went along the line as follows.

_”Wanna chat with me?”_

_”We ’lready doin’ it…”_

_”It’s true. I didn’t know you can write properly though. It’s unexpected!”_

_”Ok, I don’t want to chat with you…”_

_”Ne~ Shizu-chan…”_

_”What?”_

_”Wanna meet me in Ikebukuro tomorrow?”_

_”I already told you, stay away from Ikebukuro!”_

_”Meany…”_

Although after like two weeks he managed to set up a date with the blonde. Only that the blonde most likely didn’t realise it as a date with his miniscule of a brain. Nevertheless Izaya was satisfied with himself. He had his doubts in January wether he can change the flow of their relationship poisoned by so much hatred, but he decided, you can say as a new year’s pledge, that it does not hurt to try. It was now or never and he was more than unwilling to give up. He passed it his own triumph that Shizuo accepted the birthday present and has been wearing it since. For the blonde to reciprocate his Valentine’s Day chocolate was truly a surprise after his smug behaviour when Izaya was clinging onto his furniture for his life. The memory left a bitter taste in his mouth even weeks after the incident. And now it was truly a success to persuade Shizuo to willingly spend an afternoon with him somewhere far away from the watching eyes of acquaintances. You have to change lines from ikebukuro to get to Kudanshita and it decresed the chances of bumping into someone familiar. Also most of the guys from Ikebukuro if were in a mood for Hanami they would choose Shinjuku Gyoen instead. That’s why he thought it would be more convenient to find another place farer from Ikebukuro but not far enough from Shinjuku. Kudanshita was only a few stops from Shinjuku so it seemed to be the perfect choice. And why a Hanami if he was not even interested in it? It was because Shizuo was interested in it! He had such a romantic heart tucked safely under his short tempered and violent nature.

While he were musing about these kind of things looking down the moat encircling around the park, someone called out to him from behind with a teasing voice. "Just like I thought the girls even left a good-for-nothing like you here."

Izaya turned around smirking and looking at the blonde who was, even surprizing him was wearing normal clothes not the usual bartender outfit. Gesturing with his hands Izaya said.

"Oh please do not presume that they left me high and dry. I only was telling them that I’m on a date and they were all suddenly heartbroken."

"And you’re sending a text message to your date sayin’ you’ll be enjoying yourself with others? Not so nice of you, I-za-ya-kuuun~"

He was trying to be a bit threatening towering above the informant, but Izaya was only laughing at him. 

"So you’re accepting it as a date?"

He was a bit surprized but didn’t let it evident on his face.

Shizuo was only smirking back not giving a positive or a negative response to that. 

"Okay, let’s go!" Izaya said at last leading the way to the park entrance. 

The moat was lined by the cherry trees in full bloom colouring the whole scene into a pastel pink shade of nature. The gate was an old one dated back to the Edo period when the Edo castle was still there. Now passing the wooden gate the imposing building of the Budokan emerged. But they were not here for concerts or competitions but for the park itself which streched out from there in a vast area filled with people. They passed quite some groups and finally decided to sit down on the grass under a cherry tree by a small river leading into a pound not far away. They didn’t take blanket with them although most of the people were sitting on one. 

"What’s in that bag if it’s not a blanket?" Shizuo asked signaling with his head at the plastic bag held in Izaya’s right hand.

The raven answered him with a grin.

"Guess what! When I was looking around for a breakfast today I happened to come accross the counter for sweets."

Right away the blonde’s eyes shone up with interest.

"Instantly I was thinking about someone who has a sweeth tooth. But I was pondering on the negative effects the sugar can do to the body. Even if he has the sturdy physic of a beast sugar does no good even for animals."

An irritated frown appeared on Shizuo’s face and the corner of his mouth was twitching from repressed anger. But the raven went on undisturbed by his reaction.

"So I was picking something healthier instead. Well, it’s still not the healthiest thing in the universe, but much better than cake or pudding."

And with that he fished out two boxes of sanshoku dango. On each of the plastic trays there were 3 pieces of tricolor dango. That did the trick and the blonde’s features eased at once.

"Just to let you know I was thinking about punching your face for a moment." he informed the raven.

"Then isn’t it good to be patient and hear me out first?" Izaya grinned offering one of the boxes to him.

"Thanks." Shizuo said accepting the delicacy. He didn’t waste any time to taste it. ”There’s no real Hanami without dango."

"Well, I could live without it, but it’s not bad."

To be honest, Izaya could live without both the Hanami and the dango, but Shizuo seemed to be very enthusiastic about the whole thing and wanted to go with his boss and the Russian girl, so the raven needed to do something about it.

They were munching on the sweets for a while watching the diversity of people. Which immediately caught Shizuo’s attention was that the spot Izaya chose was teeming with couples. He stole a glance at the informant sitting next to him. Izaya was deep in thought watching a couple holding hands while conversing happily. His usual smirk was absent, features eased into a wandering expression. He was not the arrogant brat Shizuo was familiar with but a serene youth. Shizuo was thinking about his revenge. The masterplan of playing dating with him and then tossing him away. And he didn’t know why but felt somehow ashamed. Previously he was more than convinced that Izaya was just an evil bastard with a black heart and constant self-satisfied smirk plastered to his face. But at the moment he wasn’t so sure of it. Watching more carefully it even seemed that the raven was watching the couple with longing in his eyes. And the blonde was momentarily thinking about how Izaya most likely had no friends at all. Save for Shinra, who was not the greatest of friends.

They had been like that for a short while until Shizuo reached out and touched the fur hem of Izaya’s coat lightly pressing the material between his fingers. 

"It’s fucking hot today, why are you still wearing this?"

Disturbed by the sudden act Izaya was looking at Shizuo and just realized that the blonde was quite close to him. Shizuo never bent this close and it made the raven’s heart beating like crazy out of sync. He felt the heat of a blush creeping up to his cheeks.

"I… I’m always wearing it!" he stammered in embarrasement. 

He had never stammered before and Shizuo had never seen him being embarrased either which why he just realized himself now looking at Izaya’s blush and his behaviour that he really caught him off guard this time and most likely stepped a few lines without even being conscious about it. The fact that he was able to put Izaya out of countenance made him proud of himself and a grin nearly found itself appearing on his face before he managed to school his expressions and by letting the hem and making some more space between them he commented.

"You told me to come here cause it’s far from Ikebukuro and there’s less chance for anyone seeing us together. I even donned a shirt and jeans. Yet you’re in the same ugly trademark coat." 

"It’s not ugly, this is my favourite!" Izaya pouted. "But to tell you the truth I was surprized to see you something other than the clothes given to you by your brother. Is it only for me?"

Shizuo frowned.

"It’s for blending in."

"Then you should have dye your hair." Izaya replied reaching out his hand and diving his fingers into the blonde mess of hair with an unreadable look.

Now it was the blonde’s turn to be surprized. The informant was embarrased just a moment ago when he touched the fur around his neck, although now he was the one initiating a touch and a quite open one. Shizuo was too stunned to think but a wide variety of emotions were crossing his heart within the moment. Surprized, confused, slightly afraid and then oddly satisfied. Surprized by the unabashed act. Confused what to do as it was out of place to push his hand away. Slightly afraid of Izaya would be tightening the touch into a grip and pulling his head to the side while he would be pressing his blade onto his neck. And after he realized that there was no malice in the raven’s act, he felt oddly satisfied by the unexpected touch.

The lithe fingers were lingering between his tresses and in the depths of those dark brown eyes touched by crimson something untold was swirling threatening to engulf him. It was like Izaya was waiting for something. Within a moment a very strange and outrageous idea crossed Shizuo’s mind. He was thinking about kissing him on the lips. He should have thought about it! What couples are doing on a date? Kissing! 

His heart was threatening to leap out from behind his ribcage, but he passed it for the panic slowly starting to seeping through his whole system. He didn’t know what to do. Izaya had kissed him before but for him to willingly kiss the flea was something else entirely. He was not sure if he can do it. He was starting to doubt if he can follow his plan through. If he can as much as act like being interested in his archnemesis physically.

He pulled back in a haste. 

As the blonde tresses were slipping from between his fingers, Izaya’s eyes flashed something like hurt before returning into the usual look he always had.

"Ahahaha! Your expression is priceless, Shizu-chan!" he laughed although his smirk did not touch his eyes.

"Leave me alone! We came here to watch the blossoms."

"Oh my bad. I thought that we came here for a date."

Although Izaya’s comment had been said in a sweet voice, poison was leaking from it.

Shizuo was looking at him undecided. What should he say? Should he drop the whole act telling the flea that it was just a game and go home? What would Izaya do? How would he look at him? Would he be hurt? Would he care if Izaya would be hurt? 

Izaya saved him from the situation.

"Okay~ So you wanna see the blossoms? Well, you can. There are a whole raw of cherry trees along the Chidorigafuchi at the moat."

"Now that you say it, I saw some people rawing in a boat before we entered the park."

"What keen eyes you have." Izaya was impassive.

On the other hand the blonde’s eyes brightened up with interest.

"I wanna try it!" he exclaimed.

"Then go ahead." It was still impassive. The smirk also left the raven’s features giving way to a certain degree of grumpiness.

Shizuo was frowning. This situation with a grumpy Izaya was awkward as hell. He was itching to light a cigarette but as noone was smoking he had a hunch it was prohibited there. And it would be a disgrace to smoke under the cherry blossoms. He sratched his head in confusion.

" _We_ can go ahead." he grumbled before grabbing Izaya’s arm and pulling him behind himself while leaving the park and making his way for the Chidorigafuchi.

There was a queue they had to stand through before getting to their boat. Izaya dropped his sulking after like ten minutes and started to mock the blonde with every third sentance of his. Shizuo was sure that he was still sulking and mocking him out of revenge. He couldn’t fully put his finger on why he decided to pull the flea with him. He could have been rawing alone. But maybe it was out of place and he would be alone and it was not like how he imagined his Hanami at all. So he guessed that’s why he compromised with a sulking flea in whom he was not interested in at the least.

When they sat down into the boat, it was Shizuo who grabbed the paddle. Ultimately it was him who wanted to rent a boat. He had to do the paddling. Izaya was sitting in front of him with one leg upon the other and propped up by his hands on the prow. He was like a queen on a throne looking down at the galley-slave, alias him. Shizuo tightened his hold on the paddle creating a crack running along it’s length.

"Shizu-chan, please don’t break the paddle or else how can we raw back to the pier?"

"Don’t fucking complain to me, you’re not even the one doing the paddling."

"Hmmpf. As if! It was your lame idea anyway."

"It’s not lame, it’s romantic. To watch the falling petals from a boat."

Izaya’s mouth twitched.

"So you deem it romantic? The goddamn petals falling? You’re just a beast without any sense of the mood."

Shizuo upon hearing Izaya calling him a beast again dipped one of the paddles deeper into the water before swinging it out with force splashing a bucketful of cold water into the raven’s face.

Izaya freezed at once, bewilderment evident on his face. He blinked a few times before reaching up to wipe the drops out of his eyes. A few moments passed in silence before his stupified expression changed into a raging one. 

"You… you not only ruined our date, but literally splashing me with cold water in the face! You really wanna die, aren’t you?" Then he sprang up from his place pulling his blade from his pocket. He felt pushed aside and humiliated today. Finally having a date with Shizuo and was being treated as a brat.

Shizuo sensed the mood swing in the other and he also stood up as fast as he could abandoning the paddles and preparing himself for the countermeasures. With a fluid movement Izaya swinged his blade in the air to slash at the blonde’s chest, but due to the swaying of the boat and no solid footing he lost his balance and Shizuo was able to catch his arm grabbing it so tightly he immediately felt his hand tingle and the switch blade was slipping from his hand, clattering to the floorboard. He tried to bite down onto the hand squeezing his own but Shizuo pulled him to the side of the boat and with the momentum they both splashed into the water.

Although Izaya could swim he would have had difficulties as his coat drenched in water was havier than he thought. He submerged and was underwater without a lungful of air. He yelped the moment they fell and he forgot to take a deep breath. Thankfully the blonde didn’t let go of his hand and by putting his arms under his he was holding him up embraced to his chest swimming up to the surface. They burst up from under the water with a deep breath. 

While Izaya was trying to catch his breath, Shizuo pedalled them to the upturned boat. He turned it back into position then placed Izaya’s arm over the edge.

"Hold on! I’ll pull you inside."

He was waiting for Izaya to hold himself up before he pulled himself into the boat then pulled the raven also in. In the neighbouring boat the people were whispering about them and a couple asked if everything was okay. Shizuo said yes and then kneeled in front of the raven who was now sitting again. He placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay? Can you breath normally?"

Izaya glanced at him with contempt in his eyes.

"To the pier." he commanded.

"I…"

"To the pier! Are you deaf?!"

The command was more forceful this time so Shizuo sitted back and was rawing in the direction of the pier. Right after they docked, Izaya stepped out of the boat and left Shizuo behind without a word, hurrying back to the station. Shizuo was hasting after him.

"Izaya, wait!"

Izaya didn’t wait. 

"Look, I’m sorry! But you shouldn’t have to attack me too!"

Izaya halted at that, turning around fuming.

"And you shouldn’t have to splash into my face!"

"Then you shouldn’t have to calling me a beast!"

"You shouldn’t have to ruin everything! It took me two weeks to finally get you coming to a date, dammit!"

Shizuo grabbed his arm but he fought to get free. He only stilled after hearing the blonde’s response.

"It took us ten years not to kill each other! A mere two weaks are nothing compared to it!"

Izaya’s expression turned blank for a moment before it distorted into a mad smirk and a histerical laughter left his lips.

"Sure! How would I suppose that ten years of hatred would be flying out of the window just to turn a new page!"

The maniac laughter sent a chill down Shizuo’s spine, but the word he just heard made him looking at Izaya with a serious expression on his face.

"Do you really want to start anew?" he asked.

"I do! I DO! Dammit!"

His lips were trembling from anger and his eyes were a bit red either from the water or from something else. He was raging inside while on the other hand Shizuo was still. They were the mirror of themselves at the moment.

The questions Shizuo asked from himself a shirt while ago surfaced in his mind. Can he kiss Izaya? Can he date with him? Does he care if he hurt him in the end? At that exact moment seeing Izaya hurt he really did care. Even if this whole thing was an act which he doubted he still did care. When the realization struck him he felt the urge again. The urge to kiss him. Which was really outrageous but not appalling. He went with the feeling this time, pulling Izaya to his chest and plastering his lips onto his.

It caught Izaya off guard but maybe because he was more than surprized or because he was waiting for this kiss for quite some time he didn't push him away. When they finally parted their lips, Izaya kissed him back fiercely, holding him tight. Shizuo must had to admit, that he liked it more than he should.

"Me too." Shizuo said when they parted again. 

"What?" Izaya couldn’t caught up to him.

"Willing to turn a new page." Izaya’s lips pulled into a relieved smile. "Now let’s go back. You’ll catch a cold like that."

"Look who’s talking. May I remind you that it was your fault that we fell into the water?" Izaya mocked him.

"It was as much as my fault then it was yours. Now shut up and go back. I’ll hit you if you’ll get sick. And you also want to come to Ikebukuro again soon, don’t you?"

Izaya flashed him a satisfied smile.


End file.
